The last grayling

The last grayling

This is the last known record of fishing for the now-extinct grayling, on the Waiapu River on the East Coast in March 1923. The men are using a hīnaki (trap), which is weighed down with a rock. A net leads from stakes to the hīnaki, and rocks and mānuka brush form the walls that guide the grayling into the trap. On this occasion they took 30–40 fish. Māori knew grayling by many names, the most common being upokororo.